Stalked By Census Maniac

OMG as they say in LA. I am being HOUNDED by a census taker! I mailed in my forms late, and so they decided someone had to come to my door and count me. Well, it wasn’t a convenient time since I was on the phone with some VITAL Terrell Owens bizniz, so I made an appt for Saturday at 1pm. They showed up at 6pm and I thought – you know what? (curse words here YOU). I mailed in my forms. I did my duty albeit late. Now they have Dog The Census Hunter on my case! He comes 3 and 4 times a day. I refuse to answer my door and answer his stupid questions. Sunday, I locked my gate and he climbed over it!!! And just now he tried to TRICK me! He rang the doorbell, the dogs barked. Oh…. it seems he left. But no! He was still there! He rang again and then KICKED MY DOOR! BOOM! Hahahaha. I am probably going to be arrested before this whole thing is over. But I have enjoyed writing here, I love you all. And I will be posting from the Gray Bar Hotel next!

I live in a block house with 6 apartments. I am the only native English speaker here. Some have a little skill but mostly Chinese speakers. So, I hear this commotion outside and walk out on the second floor walkway. The downstairs neighbor is banging on doors trying to find someone who was home, sees me and points to the two other people saying “you speak English” and runs back into her apartment and slams the door. What happens next is really frightening with what these loons could do with little effort.

The line of questions asked were about previous tenants of the building and if I knew when they moved, where they moved and how long the current occupants had lived there. I don’t know where they learn their interrogation techniques, but it wasn’t a good feeling. At one point I was asked if I knew the land lord phone number and I said I didn’t. “How do you contact them if something goes wrong. Are you sure you don’t have it?” “How do you pay your rent?” Does he come here often? When will he be here again?” This is where I stopped answering questions.

Had my run-in with a Census taker a couple of weeks ago. She balked when I refused to give my name and other personal information and tried to convince me that everything was kept in the strictest confidentiality. Heck, she even offered to show me the Census Burear privacy policy (they have little pamphlets ready to go to handle that very objection!). I smiled at her pleasantly and said, “Ma’am, I work for the state government. I know the difference between what it says will happen and what really happens when people get involved”. She admitted that I had a point and we finished up pretty quickly after that.

If you live in a very conservative county of a very conservative state you get…a normal census worker. And after you answer the questions you spend the next 15 minutes debating over which of you abhors the current administration more. I bet my neighbor went duck hunting with him.